


To Protect the Ones We Love

by ImaKaraTabiHe



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (I think that's what it's tagged as?), Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Tony, Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Civil War Team Captain America, Courage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Hot Chocolate, Kid Peter, Nightmares, Not Team Cap friendly?, Post-Civil War, Protectiveness, SHIELD, Superfamily (Marvel), protective!tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 00:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15740268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaKaraTabiHe/pseuds/ImaKaraTabiHe
Summary: Cap and his team have been pardoned, but that doesn't mean things will go back to normal.  In fact, Tony will -not- allow them to - not when he has his son to protect.





	To Protect the Ones We Love

_It's cold, and it's dark. The smoke burns his throat as he coughs, singed and panicked. Where is he?_

* * *

  


“Why _can't_ we stay here, Stark?” Clint demands, arms crossed over his chest with a glare.

Tony sighs, feeling a headache build behind his eyes. He doesn't understand who's bright idea it was to schedule a meeting so late at night. Oh, yeah. His. Because sleep is for the weak, and he'd really rather not put his employees in the vicinity of the recently (barely) pardoned Avengers. He regrets. Not even a cup of coffee is enough to give him the energy to be interested in this conversation.

“I've already said that it's a matter of property issues,” Tony tells them for the second time. “I let you live here the first time, but it's not up to me this time.”

“And why not?” Steve's eyes narrow, seeking answers with anger barely concealed.

Throwing his hands up, Tony snaps back, “Because this isn't simply where I live, it's also where my employees work!”

“So what?”

Tony stares at them, dumbfounded. 'So what?' When he thinks he's seen the stupidest things in the world, it surprises him with something new.

“You honestly don't know, do you?” It seems that they don't. Well, Natasha seems to have some sort of an idea, because she's grimacing. Wanda – the mind manipulating vixen – doesn't have a clue and doesn't care from the looks of it. It's almost hilarious. Only because it's so utterly _ridiculous!_

And he  _laughs._ If Bruce were here today, Tony thinks he'd break from the obliviousness of their former teammates.

“Stop laughing!” Captain America commands.

It just makes him laugh harder for several more minutes. Rhodey looks half amused and half disappointed, a small smile playing on his lips. “Really, Tones?”

Tony wipes his eyes, exaggeratedly. No one makes him cry that easily, and he promised that he'd never cry because of those traitors again. “I can't help it, Rhodey Bear,” Tony rasps. “I just… Look at them! They have no idea why they can't live in a building that  _I_ own and my  _employees_ work in.” He gestures to them. “It's just… Oh my god.” He's trying not to burst into laughing again.

“Shut up, Stark!” the Scarlet Witch screeches, standing up so fast and violently that she pushes her chair over.

He does. Not because he's following what she says, but because any time she's violent it's reason to be wary. It's no laughing matter. Not after what she did to him. “ You seriously think this is about you?” Ridiculous has become plain idiotic. He meets her red eyes. “All of this whining and complaining that you've done since your 'pardon' and you think  _you're_ the victims? Newsflash.  _You're not.”_

The temperature drops to below zero in the room. Tony waves his hand towards the windows, gesturing at the city. “They're the victims. They depended on us to stick together, to be there to protect and fight for those who can't. We fucked that up royally.” Even though he places more of the blame on them for the entire debacle. Who was the one who paid to help support the victims? Who set up fundings for new housing and medical bills? It sure as Hell wasn't them.

“Unlike you, I didn't turn tell and run away,” he can't help but state. “I have a responsibility to my employees and customers.”

Clint snorts. “Yeah, to take their money, you mean.”

Tony raises an eyebrow. “In exchange for life saving medical and technological advancements, yes. Even endeavers to improve current systems need funding. As for my employees – do you know how many people are employed by Stark Industries? No? Didn't think so. I have  _thousands_ of employees on the payroll with several thousand more contractors. And who do those employees have? Families.”

He can't help but glare at Clint and nastily retort, “As if you'd know anything about supporting a family.”

It's darkly satisfying to see Clint reel back as if he's been struck, guilt instant upon his face.

A vision of soft, brown hair flashes across Tony's mind. “Yeah,” he nods, “people here have families they need to support. Families they need to protect.”

He takes a deep breath and continues, “And those people and their families have spoken.”

“What do you mean?” Sam Wilson asks, curious, anxious.

“Well, Birddie,” Tony sarcastically explains, “when people work for a company, they form a union to make sure that they're taken care of. Despite the fact that my employees have never needed to act through the union, this time they have, which means it's quite a serious matter. One that I agree with them on.”

He leans forward, forearms on the table and lets a cold, shark like smile overtake his features. “They refuse to allow the 'former Avengers' to live in a place that they work. They want to work in a safe and secure environment. Their families want to make sure they aren't going to wind up in the cross-hairs of anyone who could harm them by 'losing control'.”

Everyone looks like they've just been slapped this time, well, except for Rhodey. It feels kinda good, but he can't savor that feeling. Maybe later. When the urgency of this situation has passed. Because it's important. Not only for his employees but also for…

The door slid open and Tony's breath caught in his throat.

“Peter.”

The one treasure in his life, above all others – little Peter shuffled in, a bear plush with an “Iron Man suit” on it held to his chest. Peter's eyes were slightly lidded, due to the late time. 'Nightmare?' Tony couldn't help but wonder.

The spider pajamas that Tony bought, that were a bit too big, shifted on his form as he rubbed his eyes with one small hand. “Papa…?”

And the former Avengers were gone from his mind. “What's wrong, baby?” Tony questioned with concern as he moved to kneel on the floor in front of Peter. He brushed a lock of Peter's soft, brown hair out of his eyes. “Did you have another nightmare?”

Peter nodded, leaning his cheek into Tony's hand. He'd been having them on and off recently, and he had yet to tell Tony what they were about, but he wasn't going to push Peter to tell him.

He pulled Peter against his chest, wrapping his arms around the small boy and kissing his temple. “It's okay, Peter Rabbit… I'm here. You're safe.” He picked Peter up, standing so he could angle Peter to see Rhodey. “Even Uncle Rho is here, see?”

Peter gave an awkward wave as he tried to hang onto his bear. His chest flushed a little with joy at seeing his uncle. “Rho!”

Rhodey, too, ignored the rest of the room's occupants and stood to walk over to father and son. “Hey there, Peter. How are you?” - voice soft and warm.

Peter made a face and tipped his hand left and right. “So-so..”

Someone made a sound, reminding them that they weren't alone. Peter instantly stiffened in Tony's arms and slowly turned his head to look at the people he'd ignored in his daze. Tony could feel his heartbeat quicken and could see the boy's eyes narrow in something like fear or anger.

“Why you get some hot cocoa with Uncle Rho, huh, Peter Rabbit?” Tony suggested. This had to be done first.

Peter seemed to contemplate it, but the winning factor was Rhodey's arms held open. “I know where your papa hid the whip cream.” And Peter was gone. They both knew the boy's love for the sweet, white cream.

Tony handed Peter over to Rhodey with only a twinge of jealousy. He's still working on it, after all. “Don't forget to make some for me,” Tony told them as Rhodey whispered 'hot chocolate secrets' to Peter, making him giggle.

“No promises,” Rhodey grinned at him. “Right, Peter?”

Peter giggled again in his arms. “Papa~” He waved at Tony, who waved back.

Tony didn't miss the dirty, threatening look that Rhodey sent the former Avengers when Peter wasn't looking. It gave Tony the warm and fuzzies, as Peter called them. It made him feel better, stronger.

“See you soon, Peter Rabbit,” Tony said as Rhodey and Peter exited the room.

He took a breath and turned around in time for an explosion of questions to bombard him. Everyone wanted to know about Peter. There were also accusations that Tony will never repeat from a select individual that Tony will forever want to rip apart upon sight.

“Jarvis,” Tony commanded, wordlessly.

And the AI knew what to do. It was a fun little invention of his, and always fun in practice. Noise cancellation. It froze the soundwaves in the air, making everything silent. Tony loved watching their mouths move without any sound coming out. It was his wave of shutting people up, and he loved it.

It long for them to realize that they'd been silenced. Tony'd be amazed if it did. They stared at him expectedly and with aggravation. Tony raised his arm, signaling the 'OK' to Jarvis.

“Now,” Tony plows through without hesitation or interference, “Firstly, you don't get a fucking say in my life anymore and you can keep your shitty opinions to yourselves. Secondly, if _any_ of you lay a finger on my son, I _will_ make you disappear.” He lets his teeth show in a shark-like smile. “I know you forget, but my biggest weapon isn't my suit. It's my genius, and I've seen all of your files, courtesy of our friends at SHIELD, so don't think I don't know how to take each and every one of you down.”

“Thirdly, to answer your questions: No. You won't be living here or at the compound. The personal in both places have voted you off the Stark Island, and I support it. SHIELD's made plans for you to stay elsewhere. You won't be allowed in of my buildings without an Avenger as a chaperon. And, no. You're no longer Avengers in the eyes of SHIELD, but you will be working for them. Try any of the shit you pulled with me and you'll get punished for it. You're SHIELD employees now. Congrats!”

And it felt so good to pass them off to SHIELD, even if it's because SHIELD knows it'd cause more harm than good to put them together on missions or even the same team. “Oh, and we're no longer teammates. You're on your own.”

They stared at him, shock written across their faces as well as hurt. Tony could care less though. He'd said his piece, told them how things were going to be going from now on. “So, we're done. Make like rats and crawl back into your rats' nest.” He waggled his fingers at them.

He could see how infuriated they were. So much anger and rage bubbling up underneath. SHIELD had taken their weapons prior to their entry and allowed Tony the use of neutralizers that effectively cut Wanda off from her more dangerous powers.

“Why you...” Steve started, but ended up being cut off by Clint, who's face was stone solid with determination.

“We understand,” Clint spoke for them, stopping any further arguing. “We'll follow the new guidelines. We won't go near your son, and we won't endanger your family or those of your employees.” It hurt to talk about family, but it is what it is.

“We'll leave you to rest,” Natasha stated, dark eyes flickering to each of her companions, threatening them if they didn't leave with the duo. It works, and they're standing, each with some degree of composure on their faces.

“But ---” Wanda tries.

“Out!” Natasha hisses, narrowing her eyes.

Defeated, Wanda follows Sam out the door, Clint going next. “You too, Steve. Go,” Natasha demands. It shakes Steve out of his daze, and the super soldier soon follows the rest of his team out the door with one small glance back.

Alone with Natasha, Tony gives her a sad smile. “Take care of yourself, Romanov.”

Natasha lets her cold demeaner fade away, an equally sad but also guilty smile in return. “You too, Stark,” she tells him softly. “If you never need anything… All you need to do is ask.”

Tony's lips quirk in blue amusement. “Thanks… You too.” He hasn't forgiven them, but maybe there's still time to forgive some of them.

The assassin nods. “Good night, Tony,” she whispers before she turns and leaves.

Finally over.

Tony rocks back in his chair, letting out a huge sigh of relief. It's not like he'd solved all the problems, but it's a good start.

The speaker system switches to life effortlessly. _“Papa~”_ Peter's small voice echoes in the room. _“When are you coming? Uncle Rho and I made hot chocolate and he let me add marshmallows..”_

The pout in his son's voice makes the world brighter. It fills his heart with love and tenderness. “I'm on my way now, Peter Rabbit.” He stands and makes his way into the hall and onto the elevator. “Did you save any whipped cream for me?” he questions, curiously.

After a moment of silence, Peter's voice returns, small and guilty. _“Um...”_

Tony chuckles. “That's a 'no', isn't it?”

“ _I'm sorry, Papa,”_ Peter wetly replies.

“Awe, don't cry, Peter Rabbit,” Tony soothes as the elevator door opens and he makes his way into the kitchen to see whipped cream smeared on his son's cheeks. Smiling at Rhodey and his son, he leans down and wipes a glob off of Peter's cheek and pops it in his mouth. “This is just enough for me.”

Peter giggles, full of warmth. This is who everything is for. This is who he'll do anything and everything to protect. His son… The light of his life.

“Now, did you at least save me some marshmallows?” Tony inquires, mock-seriously.

His son nods, a fake mask of seriousness on his face. “Of course, Commander.”

“Ohhh… Commander, I like it,” Tony teases out loud, making Rhodey roll his eyes.

“You would,” Rhodey slides across a large mug, one that Peter had gotten him with their fingerprints on it. “You did good, Tony,” Rhodey murmurs as Peter plops a few marshmallows in Tony's cup. “You did good.”

“Thanks, Rhodey Bear.. For being here for us.”

“Always, Tones,” Rhodey replies, ruffling Peter's hair. “Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Random image that I'd ended up with and yeah. Random.


End file.
